Basic Psychological Needs

Need satisfaction correlated positively with personal accomplishment and empathy and negatively with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Competence is weighted less heavily than honesty and benevolence in trust formation. Competence is the ability to do what a situation requires. All six psychological-need subscales were significantly associated with burnout when modelled separately. The study used basic psychological needs theory to frame autonomy, competence, and relatedness as requirements for thriving. Need frustration correlated positively with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation and negatively with personal accomplishment and empathy. Failures of competence are relatively forgivable when a person has a reliable track record. Autonomy frustration deserves further investigation because of its strong relationship with emotional exhaustion and burnout. Sharing incorrect information does not automatically destroy confidence in everything someone has said. People often try to establish trust by leading with demonstrations of competence.